Root-grubbing machine.



A. L. HALLBAUER.

ROOT GRUBBING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 2e, 191s` 1,089`,2 1 3, Patented Mar, 3, 1 914 4 HEETS-SHEETL UYLJ'Zra Z lira/w er Gnome j I A. L. HALLBAUER.

ROOT GRUBBING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 28,1913- Patented Mar. 3, 1914.

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ROOT GRUBBING MACHINE.

APPLIGATION FILED JUNE 28,1913.

1,089,21 3, Patented Mar.3, 1914 4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

figa?" A. L. HALLBAUER.

ROOT GRUBBING MACHINE.

`PPLICATION FILED JUNE 28, IMS 1,089,21 3. Patented Mar. 3, 1914.

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ALBERT L. HALLBAUER, OF TAMPA, FLORIDA, ASSIGNOR TO PALMETTO eJ3-!.'1(`1HIIN' COIYIPAI'Y, .INCORPORA'IIEID, OF 'BALTIMORE` MARYLAND, AV CORPORATION 0F MARYLAND.

ROOT-GRUBBING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 3, 1914.

Application filed June 28, 1913. Serial No. 776.376.

To alll 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT L. HALL- isAUER, a citizen of the United States, residinat Tampa, in thecounty of Hillsboro angl State of Florida, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in v-Root- Grubbing Machines, of which the following is a specification.-

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in root grubbing machines, and more 'articularly to that :type

liis adapted ,to cut into Asmall .pieces vin'esand roots lying upon or a short distance above or below the. surface of the gri'iind. f More larticularly my invention relates to certaidiimprovements in the type of root grubbing machine covered by my application Serial Number 591,014, filed November 7,1910.

The particular improvements covered by this application relate to an improved form of cutter by which the piling up of the cut roots and loosened earth on one. side of` the machine is prevented, and the cut roots.l ad loosened earth are more evenly distributed after the'machine has passed thereover.

Still further features of my invention will be fully vdescribed in connection with theaccompanying drawings, and then the invention particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings wherein I show the preferred embodiment of my invention, and wherein the same part is designated by thesame reference numeral wherever it occurs, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the rear portion of the machine; Fig. 2 is a top plan View with the parts removed of the. portion of themachine shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 2a is a view similar-to Fig'. 2 of the front portion of the machine which is omitted from Fig. 1; and Fig. `1") is an elevation of the cutter shaft land cutters thereon; Figs. 4 and 5 are detailviews of a knife used on the cutter.

10,10 designate the side members and 11, 11 the end members, which are bolted together to form a rigid rectangular frame.Y

part of the present invention, and only sufficient thereof is illustrated to enable one to understand the construction of my invent-ion.

Mounted on the front portion of the frame of the machine, in any'suitable manner, is an engine 15, the engine shown being an'internal combustion engine, and provided with a main shaft 16. This shaft is shown as provided with a beveled gear 17, meshing with a gear 1S, connected to the drum ofv a clutch 19, which may be of any desired type, to clutch and unclutch the transverse shaft. 20 from the driving'mechanism.

Mounted on t'he hubof the beveled gear 18 is a second gear 21, which meshes withv the beveled gear 22 carried on the drum of a clutch 23, said clutch being of any ordinary or desired type` and adapted to clutch or unclutch the shaft 24 from the drh-'ing mechanism. The shaft 24 is shown as carrying fast thereon a Vgear 25, with one member 26 of a spur clutch formed thereon. A shaft 27 extends iu line with the shaft 24, and. feathered on this shaft are shown a pair of gears 28 and 29, which are adapted to mesh with the gears 30, 31, respectively, on a counter shaft 32. The counter shaft 32 alsocarries a gear 33 which is-constantly in mesh with the gear 25 on the shaft 24. The 'gears 28 and 29 are engaged by a fork 39, carried by a rod 35 connected to the arm 36 fast on a rocl shaft 37, connected t0 an operating lever 38. From this construction it will be seen that'by the operation of the lever 38 the shaft 27 can be clutched directly to the shaft 24 hy means of the spur clutch formed on the member 26 on the-gear 25, and the member 39 extending from thel gear 2Q, whereby the shaft 27 will be driven at the same rate of speed as the shaft 24. At this time the gears 28 and 29 will not mesh with the gears 30 or 31, and the countershaft 32 will consequently runidle. 'llus form of gearing is adapted to run the vehicle with the roll 12 ahead and is the drive used for moving the machincfronrone place. to another and when the cutters are 'not 'operating. l/Vhen the cutters are operating the machine is run backward and at a .slower rate of speed. liy meshing the gears 28 or 29 with their gears 30, 31 respectively two rates of speed are provided, which will cause the machine to run backward.

`isis Loosely mounted on the shaft. 27 is a ivorm 40, which is adapted to be connected and disconnected to the shaft 27 by means of a spur clutch -ll operated by an arm 4.2. connected by a rod 423, lo an arm lll ou a shaft 43, adapted lobe operated bv a treadle 4G. The Worm 40 mes-hes with a worm ivheel L17, fasi' on the transverse shaft 4S `which adjacent ciu-h end providedwith a .sprocket wheel 119, 'from each of which extendsl a sprocket chain 50,l running to a sprocket wheel 5l fast on each of the supporting rollers 13, whereby the rollers are` 4driven from the shaft at a relatively low speed, and at a lspeed very much less than the speed of rotation of the shaft 20.

52, 52 designate a pair of arms loosely jcurnaled on the ends of the shaft 527i, upon which the rollers 155, 155 'are also 4loosely mounted. Journaled in vthe outer ends of these arms is the cutter shaft 54. 'Fast on.

the ends of the cutter shaft are sprocket wheels 55 .connected b Y soroeket chains.

5G, 56, to sprocket wheels 57, 57 also loose on the shaft 5S. Fast to ihe sprocket wheels 57 arc the sprocket wheels 5S, connected by sprocket. chains 59, 59 to' the sprocket. wheels GO, 60, mounted upon the ends of the shaft 20.

1)ione of the particular Vform of mechanism thus :tar described forms any part of the subject matter of lthe present invention, and may be changed or modified as desired, it only being shoivn and `described for the purpose ot' illustrating a mechanism which ,ivill drive the shaft 54 upon which the knives' to bc hereinafter described are mounted at a relatively high speed coi'npared vvith the speed at: which the vehicle is driven, it being essential to my invention that the knifecarrying shaft 54 be driven at a speed to give. the knives a relatively high speed compared to the longitudinal movement of the vehicle.

The knives G1 are mounted upon the rotatable shaft- .A, in a series of holders 62, each holder being provided with a pair ol curved arms (53, which are mounted upon a hub (Si, keyed to the shaft 54. The arms ol the holders G2 are offset from one another in order that the knives which are held in opposite ends of the arms will be spaced apart laterally and cut 'at different points. Each knife comprises a broad tapering blade (35, `projecting obliquely from a rectangular shatta, which is detachably supported in a socket formed in the end of each ot the arms (32, and held in place by a set screw. The knives 65 are arranged in the opposed vspirals about. the rotary shaft, each spiral preferably making tivo complete turns.. In

order to support f i knives in this manner f holde i spirai are progresl iom the other knives.

l l l he sha ft, so that each i Preferably the spaces are such that there, vvill be at least three knives in operation. The knives however are rotated so much faster than the longitudinal movement of the vehicle that all the knives .will be brought into operative engagement with every inch of the ground traversed. By having the shaft 54 mounted in the arms 52 the knives may be raised or lowered as desired. A pair of chains S7 are respectively connected to the opposite arms 52, and pass over sprocket wheels 68, mounted in the outer ends of arms 69 and two Sprocket wheels 70, mounted on the opposite ends of a shaft. 7l.- The shaft 71 is rotated to raise or lower the knife shaft either by a hand Wheel 72, operatively connected to the shaft 7 l, through avvorm wheel 73 and a. Worm 74, or the shaft '75 on which the hand wheel 72 and the vvorm is mounted may be rotated by mechanism which will now be. described.'

Mounted on the rear end of the shaft 27 is a sprocket 76, connected by a sprocket chain 77 to a sprocket wheel 78 fast on one side of the clutch 7S), loosely mounted on a longitudinally extci'iding shaft Sti; mounted in journal b acl-:cts Sl, 8l, carried by the side member 1G or the frame.. The opposing portion of the clutch last referred to is feathered on the shaft 80, and is provided with the peripherally grooved collar S3, the groove of which is adapted to be engaged by the pins het extending into the groove from a forkv lever There is aiso prefer. 'riy provided a rod S6, extending through the side frame l0, and having on its inner end a spring 87, which will normally tend to keep the porllion 'and 82 of the clutch disengaged.

lmosely mounted on the shaft 8() are a pair of opposed beveled gears 88, 89, which are always in mesh with the bevel -gear 90, mounted on the end of the shaft 75. Each of the gears 88, 89, carry one member of a spur clutch 91-92, which are adapted to be alternately engaged by the opposed clutching faces of a clutch collar 93, provided with a groove 94, into which extends a pair .of pins 95, carried by the bell crank lever 9G, the bell crank lever being normally held by a spring 97- in position to cause thc clutch to engage the gear S9, and the lever 9G is also preferably provided with an operative foot treadle 9S. The gear S9 is adapted to drive the shaft 75 in a direction to lift the knives'. The shaft 8O however is normaliynot driven because of the fact that the clutch members 82 and 69 are normally held disengaged. When however vit is desired to raise the knives it is only necessary to operate the' mally lforce then throw in the clutch. ln order that the knives may be locked against upwarddisplacement when in an operative position, or against downward movement when they are in an inoperative position, a locking mechanism is provided, which normally retains the knives in either their raised or lowered positioh, but which may be readily disengaged by a trip mechanism under the control of the operator. The lookin mechanism shown comprises a lever 99, w iich is pivoted upon one of the arms l52, and 'extends upwardly through a slotted portion of a bracket 100. fast to one of the faces of the rearwardly extending arms 69. The lever 99 is rovided with a plurality of notches 101, w lich are adapted to engage with the edge of the slot formed in the bracket 100, and lock the lever 99 in osition. The lever 99 is nordP against one edge of the slot by a s ring-pressed pin 102, slidably mounted in t e bracket 100 adjacent to the upper end of the lever 99. When the knives are in operative Osition a notch 101 willcontact with the un er face of the bracket 100 and prevent any upward displacement of the knives during the cutting operation. When the i knives are raised in an `inoperative position however the upper edge of the notch 101 will contact with they upper face of the bracket 100 and lock the knives in a raised position. In Fig. l the knives are shown in an intermediate osition in which they may be supported. n order ythat the locking means may be readily disengaged to move the knives into and out of their various positions a trip 103 is pivotally mounted upon the bracket 100 adjacent one edge of the lever 99, and is oscillated to move the lever against the action of the spring pressed pin 102 by foot vtreadle 104 connected by the arm 105 and rod 106 to the trip. Upon releasing the foot treadle 104 the spring pressed pin 102, immediately forces the lever 99 to one side and locks the lever upon engagement with any notch with the bracket 1.60.

A guard is preferably mounted above the revolving knives in order to prevent the cuttings and dirt which are thrown up by the knives from flying in 'all directions. VThe knife guard is composed of a semi-cylindrical casing which is supported between the arms 52 in any suitable manner.

I am aware thatconsiderable variation is possible in the details of construction herein shown and described, without departing from the spirit of my invention, and I do vnot intend to limit myself thereto, except as pointed out in the following claims,in which 1t is my intention to claim all the novelty inherent in the structure shown and described as broadly as the state of the art will permit.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A root grubbing machine having, in combination, a vehicle, rotatable means mounted on the vehicle, a series of knives arranged in spiral formation about the rotatable means, the cuttingr edge of each of said knives being formed with a flat side and a beveled side, the knives on each side of the central portion of the spiral being arranged with their bevels facing thc'eentral portion of the spiral, the cutting edges ot' said knives facing outwardly and extending at an angle to the radii of the rotatable means, and means 'for rotating said knives at a greater speed than the longitudinal movement of the vehicle, whereby the knives produce a drawcut when entering and passing through the ground.

2. A root grubbing machine having, in combination, a vehicle, rotatable means mounted on the vehicle, a series of knives arranged indouble spiral formation about the rotatable meansfthe cutting edges of said knives facin outwardly and extending at an angle to t ie radii of the rotatable means, and means for rotating said knives aty a greater speed than the longitudinal movement of the vehicle, whereby the knives produce a drawcut when entering and passing through the'ground.

3. A root grubbing machine having, in combination, a vehicle, rotatable means mounted on the vehicle, a series of knives arranged in two opposed spirals about the rotatable means, the cutting edges of ysaid knives facing outwardly and extending at an angle to the radii of the rotatable means, and means for rotating said knives at a4 greater speed than the longitudinal movenient of the vehicle, whereby the knives produce a drawcut when entering and passing through the ground.

4. A root grubbing machine having, in combination, va vehicle, rotatable means mounted on the vehicle, a series of knives arranged in two opposed spirals about the rotatable means, the spirals being arranged so that under the normal rotation of the knives they screwk toward each other, the cutting edges of said knives facing outwardly and extending at an angle to the radii of the rotatable means, and means for rotating said knives at a greater speed than the longitudinal movement of the vehicle, whereby the knives produce a drawcut when entering and passing through the ground.

5. A root grubbing machine having, in combination', a vehicle, rotatable means mounted on the vehicle, a series of knives arranged in double spiral ,formation about the rotatable means, the cutting edges of said knives being beveled on one side and facing outwardly, and extending at an angle to the radii of the rotatable means, the bevels of on .spiraLopposing ,the bevels of the other pirel. and means for rotating said knives at u greater speed than the longi- In testimony whereof I affix my signature ludinal movement of the vehicle, whereby 1n presence of two Wltnesses. the knives produce a drawcut when entering :1nd passing through the ground, and the ALBER'I L' HALLBAUER' beveled edges of the knives in combination Witnesses:

with the oppoeed spiral formation force the JAS. M. HENDERSON,

roots und earth toward the center. MARCUS E. SPERRY. 

